Monday, September 19, 2005

Argumentam ad nauseam

My sister observed that a lot of our conversations on the show go like this conversation we had yesterday.

This can work with any proposition P, so feel free to fill in anything you like for P, such as "The Bible is absolutely true" or "Pascal's Wager is legitimate" or "Green skittles have magical powers over your libido."

Theist: "I assert that P!"
Atheist: "Yes, but I don't believe P, because (off the cuff philosophical explanation of why P is invalid)."
Theist: "Yes, I see what you're saying, but I have to remind you: P!"
Atheist: "Okay, but I still don't agree with P. Let me explain my objection another way. (Another explanation from a different angle.)"
Theist: "Hmmm, that's an interesting point. Now I have a good point for you: P!"
Atheist: "Maybe you're not quite seeing my point. Let me give you an analogy. (There follows an extremely dumbed down and easily grasped analogy involving, for instance, the flying spaghetti monster.)"
Theist: "Well that is fun to speculate on, but it still doesn't address the basic point, which is: P!"
(Repeat 1-7 more times)
Atheist: "Thanks for calling."

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